The idea of karaoke, or ‘sing-along’, is that a performer can sing along with pre-recorded music in such a way that the performer and/or an audience can listen to the voice of the performer in combination with the pre-recorded music. For example, a conventional karaoke machine may include a microphone connected thereto, a music player capable of playing the pre-recorded music with the vocal tracks removed, and a video screen or other display for displaying the text/lyrics corresponding to the pre-recorded music synchronized with the music. A performer may thereby read/sing the displayed lyrics into the microphone to provide the vocal part of the song being played, which may be mixed with the pre-recorded music and/or amplified at the karaoke machine and broadcast to the audience.
Karaoke may be popular in restaurants, bars, and/or nightclub settings, where a large audience may be present. In such karaoke establishments, a DJ (disc jockey) may manage the karaoke machine. The DJ may have a list of karaoke selections available in a song library. Audience members may review the list and decide on songs they want to perform. To request a song, an audience member may write a song selection on a piece of paper and pass it to the DJ. The DJ may cue the songs from the song library and announce the next performer based on the requests received via the pieces of paper.
However, it may be difficult for the DJ to keep track of the order of receipt of requests using such a paper-based system. As such, requests may be queued out of order, which may upset and/or otherwise dissatisfy potential karaoke performers. Furthermore, after calling the next performer, the DJ (and the audience) must wait for the performer to make his way through the audience, walk to the DJ/staging area, and physically retrieve the microphone from a previous performer. Such a process may be time-consuming, which may lead to audience dissatisfaction and/or boredom.
In addition, only one or two microphones may be available in a typical karaoke setting. As such, performers who wish to perform songs in a group may have to share a common microphone, which may be inconvenient. Moreover, some performers may enjoy karaoke, but may not wish to stand on stage in front of a large audience. For example, some potential performers may wish to sing, but may feel, shy, nervous, and/or otherwise awkward about performing for a large number of people. Accordingly, it may be convenient for performers to be able to perform karaoke from their current location in the karaoke establishment, such as from a table at which they are currently seated.